Joy was about 38.5 weeks pregnant and had been experiencing some bleeding. She visited the hospital twice (Saturday night and Sunday afternoon) leading up to Zoe's birth. Both times, baby Zoe looked great and the doctors couldn't see anything wrong, so the Moore's were sent home. Tuesday morning (5/23), Joy had a routine appointment with her doctors, and when they listened to Zoe's heart, they found that her heart rate was low. They said that Joy would need an emergency cesarean. Tyler drove Joy and Quincy to the hospital because they were told it would be faster than calling for an ambulance. Joy was taken immediately to surgery, and Tyler was met ten minutes later by a few friends from their church, one of whom stayed at the hospital with them for the day and the others took Quincy for the day.
Zoe June was born around 10:30am. They intubated her and took her to the NICU with a plan to assess for any potential brain damage due to lack of oxygen. Joy had experienced a placental abruption, where the placenta begins to separate or fully detach from the uterine wall, which was why Zoe's heart rate was low and was why Joy had experienced the episodes of bleeding. Tyler was able to go with Zoe to the NICU while the doctors finished Joy's surgery.
About half an hour later, Tyler was brought back to Joy as they finished surgery, and the doctors quickly began to be concerned about the amount of bleeding Joy was experiencing. They took her into a second surgery where the surgeons were able to stop the bleeding that was coming from one of the two major arteries supplying blood to the uterus. Tyler was finally able to see Joy when she woke up around 3pm. She was in pain and was very tired but in good spirits. Quincy was able to come and meet baby Zoe, and Joy's parents arrived to be with them.
Meanwhile, doctors caring for Zoe were trying to decide whether or not to use a cooling blanket for her to cool her brain and minimize damage that may have occurred. The potential benefits seemed great and the only downside was that she wouldn't get to be with Joy quickly. Since Joy was in surgery and would need to recover for some time, they decided to go ahead with the cooling blanket.
On Wednesday (5/24), Joy continued to recover. She was in pain and it was very difficult to sleep but she was able to sit up in a wheelchair and go to see Zoe in the NICU.
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